According to recent Nielsen data, sales of jazz music dipped below classical, essentially solidifying it as the bottom feeder in the music genre commercial success pool. There’s a lot of speculation regarding the reasons behind this continuing and disturbing trend. Theories include jazz purists’ inability to embrace the evolution of the genre, the marginalization of jazz crossover artists who infuse elements of pop, rock, funk into their music, and the suffering artist syndrome where the musician rationalizes that commercial success is invariably inversely proportional to artistic integrity, and therefore uses meager sales as confirmation of distinction.

Here’s another theory. How many Olympic sprinters go straight from the crib to the track without learning to crawl, stumble, and walk first? Obviously, those interim steps helps prepare the runner for their ultimate achievements. But they also provide a foundation that comes with it an appreciation for the talents and dedication of the world-class sprinter.

In my interview with Dave Wish, CEO/Founder of the Music Education non-profit Little Kids Rock(audio below), Dave discusses how children who learn even the most basic fundamentals of playing guitar (a few basic chords for instance) will never again listen to music the same way. As Dave says, “Just because I read Dr. Seuss to a child doesn’t mean I’ve confined them to a lifetime of reading rhyming books. It teaches them a love of literature at an early age.”

Exposing the wonder of music participation to children in great numbers virtually ensures a healthy pool of future candidates from which a consumer base with an appreciation for higher levels of accomplishment will emerge. As we continue to gut music education programs, we lower the baseline of music awareness, erode the pool of likely appreciators, and drive the masses of music consumers to the most primitive levels of melodic and harmonic sophistication.

In my own experience as a guitarist, it was only after I realized the limitations of the minor pentatonic scale when venturing outside of the basic 3-chords structures of rock/blues guitar that I came to explore the theory of music with greater harmonic variety. Had I never played an instrument and reached that level of frustration that prompted me to delve deeper, it’s not likely that I would have developed such a level of appreciation for the virtuosos I admire like Dave Frishberg, Joe Pass, Donald Fagen, and the like. While I’m sure that there are devout fans of jazz who never picked up an instrument or glanced at music notation, it’s safe to say that a lion’s share of jazz aficionados are those who appreciate the mastery of the artist through their own journey of musical expression. As Dave says…

In 2008, I conducted a series of interviews with music educators, professionals, musicians, and advocates articulating the universal benefits of music education and participation. One of the most memorable of those discussions was with Dave Wish, founder and Executive Director of the non-profit, “Little Kids Rock.” LKR provides musical instruments and instruction to at-risk kids and teachers.

Great points made by Dave that should be staples of any music enthusiast’s/advocate’s discussions!

As we’ve mentioned here previously, music and sports are often seen as opposing forces in the world of education, as budget cuts force administrators to choose where dollars should be allocated. Here’s someone who has seen the benefits of both activities, musician and former New York Yankees Centerfielder Bernie Williams.

“Tough question,” responded Williams. “Baseball was my job and a lot of fun, but music was always in my life. And you know what? The older I got, the more I realized I wanted to be a musician when I grew up. .. . I think I have to give the edge to music a little.”

The amazing work of the non-profit “Little Kids Rock” and founder Dave Wish. They recently reached the 50,000 mark in terms of the number of kids they have reached with music. I love their focus on music as a vehicle of self-expression.

Little Kids Rock is a wonderful non-profit organization that provides resources to allow teachers in low-income schools to bring music into the classroom where the void would exist otherwise. Not only do they provide instruments and instruction plans – they also make those instructional resources available online for all to use.

If everyone had the passion for music education that Dave Wish had, music would be accesible to all children. As Executive Director of Little Kids Rock, a non-profit organization reaching more than 20,000 kids in low-income schools, Dave is a great example of how one person with conviction cane make a difference. Listen to my interview with Dave: Dave Wish Interview